A Userspace Transport Stack Doesn't Have to Mean Losing Linux Processing

Introduction. The competitiveness of land use within a market economy is determined by the equation of capital expenditures, labor power that integrates land into a single engineering procedure, as well as natural and anthropogenic means with the help of which land resources are leveraged, and soil fertility is restored by rational organization of the system of adaptive-landscape specific agriculture. Therefore, the relevance of research of environmental efficiency of land resources management as the basis of sustainable rural development is beyond any reasonable doubt.Purpose. The purpose of the article is to investigate the environmental efficiency of land resources management and its impact on sustainable rural development.Results. Based on the research findings of the totality of indicators of environmental efficiency of land resources management, we will distinguish those ones that make important analysis findings at the national level for such land resources agents as micro agents; mini-agents; general agents; the state; local agents; global agents. Among all the test items of environmental efficiency of land resources management, the agent of land interests “the state” responds to 26 indicators. In addition to the existing indicators, a number of multiplicative metrics has been added for analysis. By expertise, among the presented indicators we have selected 15 under three criteria – anthropogenic impact, reproduction, harmonization. At the same time, in the author's opinion, the environmental efficiency of land resources management of the rural economic sector is to ensure the efficient land use as a constituent of the environment. With provision for expert estimation, we have offered a set of evaluative criteria for the level of environmental efficiency of land resources management of the rural economic sector.Originality. There has been proposed the map of forecast impacts of indicators of environmental efficiency of land resources management, which shows an extremely high level of influence of environmental component of sustainable development on the integral estimation of land resources management, in particular indicators of the amount of used agricultural chemicals per 1 ha of area under crops, land resources usage per a unit of gross production, proportion of sunflower and bird rape in cropping system. A computer program was used to predict the change in the value of integrated efficiency of land resources management using the proposed methodological approach. This computer program, taking into account interinfluences, makes it possible to calculate the predictive influence ranking of indicators on the assessment of the integrated efficiency of land resources management.Conclusion. The article deals with the possibilities of land resources management within the framework of sustainable development of rural territories. The criteria for environmental efficiency of land resources management include: anthropogenic impact – the main indicator – the usage of agricultural chemicals per 1 ha of area under crops; reproduction – environmental and agrochemical assessment of soils; harmonization – the relative gravity of eroded lands acreage in the structure of agricultural fields. Multiplicative indicators, the essence of which is to assess the intensity and efficiency of the parties to land relations, are taken into account for each type of efficiency of land resources management. We have implemented the matrix of forecasts of integral efficiency of land resources management in the rural economic sector in reliance on the method of criterion diagnostics, which is based on the use of a program that takes into account maps of forecast impacts of indicators of environmental efficiency of conditional, relative and absolute input indicators. The practical importance of the obtained research results is that we not only have calculated the predictive rating of the impact of the criterion indicators on the assessment of the integrated efficiency of land resources management, but also the results of the change to 1 conditional score of the input indicator. This technique permitted to reveal the most significant influence on the effectiveness of specific environmental indicators – livestock density and specific gravity of the area under crops, fertilized with organic fertilizers, which indicates the impossibility of effective land use without livestock-raising development.

In the public cloud, FPGA-based SmartNICs are widely deployed to accelerate network functions (NFs) for datacenter operators. We argue that with the trend of network as a service (NaaS) in the cloud is also meaningful to accelerate tenant NFs to meet performance requirements. However, in pursuit of high performance, existing work such as AccelNet is carefully designed to accelerate specific NFs for datacenter providers, which sacrifices the flexibility of rapidly deploying new NFs. For most tenants with limited hardware design ability, it is time-consuming to develop NFs from scratch due to the lack of a rapidly reconfigurable framework. In this paper, we present a reconfigurable network processing pipeline, i.e., DrawerPipe, which abstracts packet processing into multiple “drawers” connected by the same interface. NF developers can easily share existing modules with other NFs and simply load core application logic in the appropriate “drawer” to implement new NFs. Furthermore, we propose a programmable module indexing mechanism, namely PMI, which can connect “drawers” in any logical order, to perform distinct NFs for different tenants or flows. Finally, we implemented several highly reusable modules for low-level packet processing, and extended four example NFs (firewall, stateful firewall, load balancer, IDS) based on DrawerPipe. Our evaluation shows that DrawerPipe can easily offload customized packet processing to FPGA with high performance up to 100 Mpps and ultra-low latency (<10 µs). Moreover, DrawerPipe enables modular development of NFs, which is suitable for rapid deployment of NFs. Compared with individual NF development, DrawerPipe reduces the line of code (LoC) of the four NFs above by 68%.

6G, the next generation of mobile networks, is set to offer even higher data rates, ultra-reliability, and lower latency than 5G. New 6G services will increase the load and dynamism of the network. Network Function Virtualization (NFV) aids with this increased load and dynamism by eliminating hardware dependency. It aims to boost the flexibility and scalability of network deployment services by separating network functions from their specific proprietary forms so that they can run as virtual network functions (VNFs) on commodity hardware. It is essential to design an NFV orchestration and management framework to support these services. However, deploying bulky monolithic VNFs on the network is difficult, especially when underlying resources are scarce, resulting in ineffective resource management. To address this, microservices-based NFV approaches are proposed. In this approach, monolithic VNFs are decomposed into 'micro' VNFs, increasing the likelihood of their successful placement and resulting in more efficient resource management. This article discusses the proposed framework for resource allocation for microservices-based services to provide end-to-end Quality of Service (QoS) using the Double Deep Q Learning (DDQL) approach. Furthermore, to enhance this resource allocation approach, we discussed and addressed two crucial sub-problems: the need for a dynamic priority technique and the presence of the low-priority starvation problem. Using the Deep Deterministic Policy Gradient (DDPG) model, an Adaptive Scheduling model is developed that effectively mitigates the starvation problem. Additionally, the impact of incorporating traffic load considerations into deployment and scheduling is thoroughly investigated.

Recently, network function virtualization has been focused on achieving a flexible deployment of networking services. Despite the fact that the heart of network function virtualization is its software implementation, there are fewer studies on how network functions are implemented as software. In this study, we investigate the evolution of functional connectivity in network functions using an implementation of Internet protocol suite in the Linux kernel. We constructed a call graph for the Linux kernel and analyzed the change of connectivity between the protocol components based on the directory structure of Linux kernel. Our results on the connectivity analysis show that new sub-directories appears for new emerging technologies, such as "bluetooth" and "sctp", and they rely mostly on the function of sub-directories "core" and "ipv4". Since the number of functions in sub-directories "core" and "ipv4" is increasing, we defined a functional core for the call graph to see whether there is a core part which has lower variability during the kernel development or not. The result shows that the functional core consists of mostly 50-70 functions and has lower variability comparing with the increase of a number of network-related functions during the kernel development.

To enhance the resilience and sustainability of urban metro systems under operational uncertainties and external disturbances, critical station identification and vulnerability assessment should be further investigated from the perspective of network science. In this paper, the presented comprehensive clustering algorithm and the Pearson correlation coefficient are adopted to explore the origin-destination (OD) passenger flow characteristics on different date classifications, and the different dates should be reasonably classified into three categories, including working day, weekends, and holiday. Meanwhile, this paper proposes the dynamic DomiRank algorithm and flow DomiGCN model to identify critical stations from network structure and function on different data classifications respectively, and further studies the vulnerability property of metro networks under simulated attacks. The Shanghai metro network is selected as case to prove the feasibility and correctness of the model. The results show that the dynamic DomiRank algorithm is relatively effective to identify critical stations from network structure, and the flow DomiGCN model is also relatively effective to identify critical stations from network function. Moreover, simulated attacks to these critical stations detected by the proposed methods can cause more damages than the other methods. These findings provide some supports for protection of metro infrastructure and contribute to the sustainable operation and development of urban rail transit systems.

Autonomic communications aim to provide the quality-of-service in networks using self-management mechanisms. It inherits many characteristics from autonomic computing, in particular, when communication systems are running as specialized applications in software-defined networking (SDN) and network function virtualization (NFV)-enabled cloud environments. This paper surveys autonomic computing and communications in the context of software-driven networks, i.e., networks based on SDN/NFV concepts. Autonomic communications create new challenges in terms of security, operations, and business support. We discuss several goals, research challenges, and development issues on self-management mechanisms and architectures in software-driven networks. This paper covers multiple perspectives of autonomic communications in software-driven networks, such as automatic testing, integration, and deployment of network functions. We also focus on self-management and optimization, which make use of machine learning techniques.

Programmable Data Plane (PDP) has been leveraged to offload Network Functions (NFs). Due to its high processing capability, the PDP improves the performance of NFs by more than one order of magnitude. However, the coarse-grained NF orchestration on the PDP makes it hard to fulfill the dynamic service chain demands and unreasonable network function deployment causes long end-to-end delays. In this paper, we propose the Flexible Network Function (FlexNF) deployment on the PDP. First, we design an NF Selection Framework, leveraging the service selection label and re-entering operations for flexible NF orchestration. Second, to support runtime NF reconfiguration to meet the dynamic flow demands, we propose the Per-Flow On-Demand servicing mechanism, where one Match-Action Table with multiple mixed NFs works as different NFs for different flows. Third, to ensure the QoS of flows, on the one hand, we design an SP-aware NF Placement Algorithm to find a near-optimal placement solution that accommodates peak traffic volume while minimizing the overall routing path lengths of all the requests, on the other hand, we design a Two-Stage Service Path Construction Algorithm to provide on-path service while considering load balancing. We implement 15 types of network functions on the P4 switch, based on which we construct the comprehensive experiments. FlexNF reduces the traffic delay by 42.6% while increasing the service chain acceptance rate by five times compared with current solutions. Besides, when switching functions, the FlexNF improves the throughput by 2.04Gbps and reduces the packet loss by 8.269% compared with current solutions.

Network processors are programmable devices that can process packets at a high speed. A network processor is typified by multi-threading and heterogeneous multiprocessing, which usually requires programmers to manually create multiple tasks and map these tasks onto different processing elements. This paper addresses the problem of automating task creation and mapping of network applications onto the underlying hardware to maximize their throughput. We propose a throughput cost model to guide the task creation and mapping with the objective of both minimizing the number of stages in the processing pipeline and maximizing the average throughput of the slowest task simultaneously. The average throughput is modeled by taking communication cost, computation cost, memory access latency and synchronization cost into account. We envision that programmers write small functions for network applications, such that we use grouping and duplication to construct tasks from the functions. The optimal solution of creating tasks from m functions and mapping them to n processors is an NP-hard problem. Therefore, we present a practical and efficient heuristic algorithm with an O((n + m)m) complexity and show that the obtained solutions produce excellent performance for typical network applications. The entire framework has been implemented in the Open Research Compiler (ORC) adapted to compile network applications written in a domain-specific dataflow language. Experimental results show that the code produced by our compiler can achieve the 100% throughput on the OC-48 input line rate. OC-48 is a fiber optic connection that can handle a 2.488Gbps connection speeds, which is what our targeted hardware was designed for. We also demonstrate the importance of good creation and mapping choices on achieving high throughput. Furthermore, we show that reducing communication cost and efficient resource management are the most important factors for maximizing throughput on the Intel IXP network processors.KeywordsNetwork ProcessorsThroughputIntel IXPDataflow ProgrammingTask Creation and Mapping

The recent trends in software-defined networking (SDN) and network function virtualization (NFV) are boosting the advance of software-based packet processing and forwarding on commodity servers. Although performance has traditionally been the challenge of this approach, this situation changes with modern server platforms. High performance load balancers, proxies, virtual switches and other network functions can be now implemented in software and not limited to specialized commercial hardware, thus reducing cost and increasing the flexibility. In this paper we design a lossless software-based switch for high bandwidth data acquisition (DAQ) networks, using the ATLAS experiment at CERN as a case study. We prove that it can effectively solve the incast pathology arising from the many-to-one communication pattern present in DAQ networks by providing extremely high buffering capabilities. We evaluate this on a commodity server equipped with twelve 10 Gbps Ethernet interfaces providing a total bandwidth of 120 Gbps.

In Part I of the special issue, the main reported research contributions were: efficient resource allocation and management of softwarized network functions, design of highperformance platforms to allow network function virtualization on commodity machines, and enabling efficient collaboration between providers in softwarized networks. From the twenty six submitted papers, four papers had been selected for Part I of the special issue. An additional set of four more papers have been accepted for this Part II, after a thorough revision by the authors to take into account the detailed comments from the reviewers. The four selected papers in Part II of the special address three very important topics for the efficient management of Software-Defined Networking/Virtualized Network Functions-based (SDN/NFV-based) telecommunication systems: (i) optimizations to flow-based software-defined networks to address the scalability and energy consolidation requirements, (ii) programming abstractions in wireless software-defined networks, and (iii) improved network virtualization to more efficiently support latency sensitive applications.

Traditional network resident functions (e.g., firewalls, network address translation) and middleboxes (caches, load balancers) have moved from purpose-built appliances to software-based components. However, L2/L3 network functions (NFs) are being implemented on Network Function Virtualization (NFV) platforms that extensively exploit kernel-bypass technology. They often use DPDK for zero-copy delivery and high performance. On the other hand, L4/L7 middleboxes, which usually require full network protocol stack support, take advantage of a full-fledged kernel-based system with a greater emphasis on functionality. Thus, L2/L3 NFs and middleboxes continue to be handled by distinct platforms on different nodes.This paper proposes MiddleNet that seeks to overcome this dichotomy by developing a unified network resident function framework that supports L2/L3 NFs and L4/L7 middleboxes. MiddleNet supports function chains that are essential in both NFV and middlebox environments. MiddleNet uses DPDK for zero-copy packet delivery without interrupt-based processing, to enable the ‘bump-in-the-wire’ L2/L3 processing performance required of NFV. To support L4/L7 middlebox functionality, MiddleNet utilizes a consolidated, kernel-based protocol stack processing, avoiding a dedicated protocol stack for each function. MiddleNet fully exploits the event-driven capabilities provided by the extended Berkeley Packet Filter (eBPF) and seamlessly integrates it with shared memory for high-performance communication in L4/L7 middlebox function chains. The overheads for MiddleNet are strictly load-proportional, without needing the dedicated CPU cores of DPDK-based approaches. MiddleNet supports flow-dependent packet processing by leveraging Single Root I/O Virtualization (SR-IOV) to dynamically select packet processing needed (Layer 2 to Layer 7). Our experimental results show that MiddleNet can achieve high performance in such a unified environment.

The main purpose of the study is to substantiate the need for and identify the main stages and methods of integrated assessment of the efficiency of transboundary water resources management. Studies on the aforementioned topics in world and national science have not been disseminated. The article analyzes the general approaches to the assessment of the efficiency of water resources management, substantiates the necessity and peculiarities of the assessment of the efficiency of management of transboundary water resources. As a result of the generalization of scientific approaches on these issues, along with the economic importance of recognizing the social and environmental components of the evaluation of efficiency.The generalized methodology for evaluating the effectiveness and on the basis of the social, ecological and economic constituent management objectives for assessing the effectiveness of management of transboundary water resources is recognized as the most expedient use of integrated assessment by simultaneously and coherently studying a set of parameters that reflect all or most aspects of the investigated processes.The method of estimation of the efficiency of such control is proposed by determining the degree of proximity of objects being studied, according to the relative indicators to the object acting as a reference (distance method). This indicator determines the coefficient of integrated efficiency evaluation (Ki), which is calculated by the Euclidean formula. It is recommended to evaluate the effectiveness of the criteria for institutional and organizational support for management needs, the implementation of management objectives and information provision of the management of transboundary water resources. The information field of the indicators of evaluation of the efficiency of the management process, as well as the gradation of the coefficient of complex evaluation of efficiency in determining the level of efficiency of water resources management of a specific transboundary water basin, is proposed. The possibility of estimating the degree and directions of connection between the indicators of different groups or groups of criteria was investigated and a variant of its calculation was proposed on the basis of the Spirman rank correlation coefficient.The proposed integrated assessment method allows to determine the level of efficiency of management of transboundary water resources in the pool as a whole, as well as each of its parties separately, identify shortcomings and identify and use the most effective management option.

Recently, the usage of Internet through mobile devices has surpassed the access through wired network. It makes extremely difficult for the network operators to manage their network in resource efficient manner. Software Defined Networking (SDN), a key 5G enabling technology, makes network management easier for the network operators through logically centralized control plane. One of the benefits of SDN is specific treatment for different network traffic type, however it requires an efficient traffic classification solution. Comprehensive research has been done on deep packet inspection or machine learning based traffic classification methods which are unsuitable for delay intolerant networks due much overhead. This paper proposes a simple traffic classification mechanism using different IP addresses which are assigned to Mobile Node (MN). Different applications in MN uses one of the assigned IP addresses based on the type of network traffic they generate. Centralized SDN controller uses these IP addresses to classify the network traffic. This method is useful for various network functions such as load balancing, security and mobility. In this paper we take mobility as a use case and through emulation results establish that traffic classification significantly improves MN mobility performance.

As one of the international economic organizations, the G‐7 countries are composed of the world's leading industrialized countries. In addition, the role of the G‐7 countries in global warming is another issue that is constantly debated. Concerns have been raised about these very wealthy nations' capacity to manage their resources sustainably. Examining the factors that contribute to efficient resource management in these nations has grown in significance. The goal of this research is to look at how eco‐friendly innovations, clean energy transition, economic development, and trade affect effective resource management in the G‐7 nations. The material footprint is used as a gauge for efficient resource management. The Method of Moments Quantile Regression (MMQR) approach, which is a novel method, was used in this research to examine the G‐7 nations' yearly data for the years 1990–2019. Eco‐friendly technologies lower the material footprint in the G‐7 nations, according to MMQR findings. Results are statistically significant for the majority of quantile levels (0.1–0.7). Clean energy transition also reduces the material footprint of the G‐7 countries, with statistically significant results at all quantile levels. Economic development increases the material footprints of G‐7 countries; findings are statistically significant at all quantile levels. The material footprint is consequently increased by trade, and the results are statistically significant at various quantile levels (0.5–0.9). Additionally, the research tests robustness using other panel estimators and achieves similar findings. Lastly, the paper offers policy suggestions for G‐7 nations' efficient resource management.

Many network applications, especially the multimedia applications, often deliver flows with high QoS, like end-to-end delay constraint. Flows of these applications usually need to traverse a series of different network functions orderly before reaching to the host in the customer end, which is called the service function chain (SFC). The emergence of network function virtualization (NFV) increases the deployment flexibility of such network functions. In this paper, we present heuristics to embed the SFC for a given flow considering: i) bounded end-to-end delay along the path, and ii) minimum cost of the SFC embedding, where cost and delay can be independent metrics and be attached to both links and nodes. This problem of embedding SFC is NP-hard, which can be reduced to the Knapsack problem. We then design a greedy algorithm which is applied to a multilevel network. The simulation results demonstrate that the multilevel greedy algorithm can efficiently solve the NP-hard problem.